


ain't no mountain

by Ser_Renity



Series: Post-Canon [9]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Asexual Grimmjow, Asexuality, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Ichigo POV, M/M, POV Second Person, Relationship Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 05:36:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7210091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ser_Renity/pseuds/Ser_Renity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He really is in love with you."</p>
            </blockquote>





	ain't no mountain

**Author's Note:**

> dishing out the fluff like nobody's business

* * *

 

 

“He really is in love with you,” Yoruichi teased and laughed as she was met with a blank expression, “What, you didn’t know?”

 

* * *

 

 

Grimmjow had never been a mystery to you, not since you took a second to look at him, look at him for real. Sometimes it was difficult to speak of him. Sometimes people looked at you with frowns and lifted eyebrows, unwilling or unable to understand.

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was a concept beyond the boundaries of their imagination; and that was the greatest tragedy of them all.

 

* * *

 

 

In the beginning you were overwhelmed by his hatred and blood lust and anger, a maddening flame he stoked and nurtured without ever taking a moment to breathe. Even below his boredom you saw agitation, below the joy there was unease.

  
It shifted, changed, turned into something different.

  
With the Quincy came a new era; Grimmjow by your side. He turned his back on you once in the middle of a battlefield and you knew that times were not quite as desperate as they had been once before.

 

* * *

 

 

But this was not a story of war anymore, not to you and not to him.

  
You met him in a store where you held his hand out of a sudden impulse; you walked through empty streets with him like young people did in movies that ended on certain terms.

 

* * *

 

 

Sometimes you caught him staring at you, pretending as if nothing was out of the ordinary and every glance was a coincidence.

  
You had seen many scars in your lifetime and then there were his, out in the open and worn with pride. There was the one you had helped create, the one you had almost saved him from, the one where he blocked a hit meant for you.

  
So when you saw him stare at you from wherever he sat his secrets were nothing but ash to you. Instead of brushing them off you gathered them like precious gems.

 

* * *

 

 

“What do you mean?” you asked Yoruichi and wondered if the question was a clever one.

  
She cocked her head and smiled again, reached out and pushed a strand of your hair behind your ear.

  
“Silly you,” she laughed, “To Grimmjow you are the moon, the stars, the world.”

  
Her voice was teasing and yet you followed her gaze; saw your Arrancar dodge blades and laugh at foes with his head thrown back.

  
As he looked over he caught your eyes and grinned; and you wanted to beat the thought out of your head that maybe you made him feel alive.

 

* * *

 

 

“Go out with me,” Grimmjow said to you as he pulled you aside, the questioning eyes of your friends still upon you.

  
You gaped at him until he grew restless.

  
“Isn’t that what you humans say?” he asked and rubbed his neck, “Don’t tell me they fucking lied-”

  
“No, no,” you reassured him and pinched the bridge of your nose, “That’s how you say it. If you say it, I mean. Which you just did.”

  
“True.”

  
“Are you serious?”

  
“Dead serious.”

 

* * *

 

 

Despite your denial you were not oblivious to his feelings for you, the way you had wormed yourself into that stupid stubborn head of his. First you had mistaken it for lust and nothing else, or a short-lived interest born of convenience.

  
Then he spoke to you about not feeling sexual attraction; and maybe that was the first time you realized that you had misjudged him.

 

* * *

 

 

From then on it was like the thought was stuck in your head, held in place by a force greater than your own will.

  
“He’s in love with you” became more than a suspicion, it was a nagging feeling that you couldn’t part with and a certainty at that.

  
Whenever you met you looked for signs; hints that it was true and suddenly they were right there. The proof you had demanded to be shown had been there all along.

 

* * *

 

 

You were studying for your finals as Grimmjow showed up on your windowsill.

  
“You should take a fucking break,” he muttered, “Or your head’ll fall off from studying.”

  
At first you laughed.

  
Then time passed and even through the vast array of medical terms you had to beat into your skill a thought kept you on edge.

  
Concern, that’s what it was, that emotion in Grimmjow’s voice that was not hidden in the slightest.

  
And you realized he had not demanded anything today, had only curled up on your bed watching you work until he fell asleep.

  
You watched him and wondered why it had taken you so long to realize what his trust really meant, what honesty was in his eyes.

 

* * *

 

 

“He’s so whipped,” Renji laughed at you, “Did you really not realize?”

  
You had no reply for him, no smart comeback.

  
“What did you think it meant?” Renji seemed baffled and shook his head.

  
“What _it_ are you even talking about?”

  
“Damn, you really are oblivious. If he wasn’t a damn Espada I’d feel sorry for him.”

 

* * *

 

 

Introducing him to your family was a funny thing to do; after all the time you spent preparing for it it ended up as a beautiful disaster.

  
A family dinner would have been too easy, after all, you mused later. That would have meant a normal start into a conventional relationship, something you were not sure you could ever have but also something you were not sure you wanted in the first place.

  
Instead of a quiet first meeting your dad met Grimmjow as the Arrancar’s guts were strewn all across your kitchen floor.

  
“Dad, this is Grimmjow,” you said and fidgeted, “He’s my boyfriend.”

  
“He just ripped a hole into the side of the house,” Isshin deadpanned even as he applied the bandages, “And if that isn’t a very expressive three-dimensional tattoo then I am sure he is also a Hollow.”

  
You could swear that Grimmjow rolled his eyes even in his mangled state.

  
“We were chasing a Vasto Lorde and Grimmjow tried to take the brunt of its attack,” you tried to explain, “The whole house’d be gone if he hadn’t done-”

  
“Son, I say this with your best interest in mind,” Isshin interrupted you, “But do shut up. I’ll have to put your boyfriend’s lungs back where they belong.”

  
It was not what you had envisioned, but in the end maybe that was exactly why it worked out. With Grimmjow you had no chance to ever be bored again.

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn’t all sunshine and nice things and the absence of gore, though.

  
Grimmjow was stubborn and needy and demanding if he wanted to be, even on the best of days.

  
“Fuck off,” you told him as he draped himself over your shoulders, effectively keeping you from doing things that were important.

  
“Nah.”

  
“You’re not as cute as you think you are,” you muttered and dragged him along as you tried to make your way downstairs, “Remember last time you did this?”

  
“You punched me in the face. It was great,” Grimmjow answered and rested his chin on your head.

  
“That’s a lie and you know it. I wouldn’t just punch you.”

  
“Your dismissal hurt as much as a hit would have,” he said and sighed dramatically, “You hurt my feelings.”

  
“You’re so full of shit.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Of course Grimmjow is in love with you,” Rukia told you as you asked and sighed with exasperation, “You can be really slow, Ichigo.”

  
“Why is everyone so sure?” you asked and shook your head, “Like, honestly, how can you-”

  
“Why aren’t you sure?” she returned the question and flipped the amulet around that dangled from her neck. It was formed like a flower with elegant petals, reminiscent of-

  
“Are you scared that he will change his mind?” Rukia asked and smiled wryly, “That you won’t live up to the expectations because you think you let down people before?”

  
It hit you that she knew exactly what situation you were in, that her doubts were similar and her problems just as valid.

  
“Yeah,” you admitted and looked away.

  
Rukia punched you in the side gently and laughed.

  
“Someone more amazing than me once told me that it’s okay to feel that way because it’s a thought everyone shares.”

  
You knew who had told her that and you suppressed words of gratitude.

  
“Say hi to Inoue from me,” you said and grinned as she blushed.

 

* * *

 

 

“They say you are in love with me,” you said one night as you rested beside him. The world was calm and so were you; but your heart still raced in your chest and the words sounded clumsy and foreign.

  
Grimmjow huffed out a laugh.

  
“Do they have proof?”

  
“Of course, detailed analysis and a long list of sources.”

  
You laughed with him and it was warm and comfortable and you never wanted him to leave.

  
“Do I have to say it?” Grimmjow asked you after a while.

  
You hesitated for a moment.

  
“Do I have to?” you replied.

  
A question for a question, a fair trade.

  
In the end the answer was obvious.

 

* * *

 


End file.
